A bill

 

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY ADDING SECTION 59-29-250 SO AS TO PROVIDE REQUIREMENTS FOR PUBLIC SCHOOL GRADING PRACTICES, TO CONDITION ELIGIBILITY FOR CREDIT RECOVERY AND CONTENT RECOVERY ON COMPLETION OF REQUIRED ASSIGNMENTS, TO LIMIT THE USE OF CERTAIN ASSESSMENTS IN CALCULATING FINAL COURSE GRADES, TO PROVIDE ENFORCEMENT THROUGH WITHHOLDING OF STATE AID TO CLASSROOM FUNDS, TO DIRECT THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION TO ESTABLISH A TASK FORCE TO EVALUATE AND RECOMMEND REVISIONS TO THE UNIFORM GRADING POLICY, AND TO REQUIRE THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION AND LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS TO ADOPT THE RECOMMENDED REVISIONS.

 

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

 

SECTION 1.  Article 1, Chapter 29, Title 59 of the S.C. Code is amended by adding:

 

    Section 59-29-250. (A) In alignment with the Profile of the Graduate and state academic standards, grading practices in schools shall promote college and career readiness by measuring student mastery of rigorous material as demonstrated through completed assignments and assessments. Only academic performance may be considered in the assignment of grades in a high school credit course.

    (B) No school district or school may adopt any type of grading system that requires a teacher to assign a minimum grade or score that exceeds the student's actual performance on completed assignments. If a school district is found to be in violation of this section, the State Department of Education shall withhold ten percent of the school district's State Aid to Classroom funding.

    (C) In order for a student to be eligible to participate in a district-approved credit recovery course as defined in the South Carolina Uniform Grading Policy, a student must have submitted all required assignments for the course in a manner consistent with district policies for timely submission of student work.

    (D) In order for a student to be eligible to participate in a district-approved content recovery program as defined in the South Carolina Uniform Grading Policy, a student must have completed all required assignments for the relevant subset of the course in a manner consistent with district policies for timely submission of student work.

    (E) Districts shall not require the inclusion of student performance on the formative assessments required in Section 59-18-310(D) or on any district-selected benchmark assessment in calculating a student's final grade in any course or subject. As used in this section, a district-selected benchmark assessment is defined as an assessment that includes items not available for review by the classroom teacher in advance of administration or items covering content that has not been previously taught in the course. This section does not prohibit a district from requiring administration of benchmark assessments for the purpose of informing and improving instructional practices through evaluation and monitoring of student mastery of state academic standards. To further this goal, student results on district-developed benchmark assessments must be made available in a timely fashion to educators, students, and parents after administration of the assessment.

    (F) Prior to the start of the 2026-2027 School Year, the State Board of Education is directed to establish a task force comprised of superintendents, principals, teachers, representatives of school boards, and high school students to evaluate potential revisions to the Uniform Grading Policy in order to enhance the utility of grades in evaluating college and career readiness, ensure high school grade point averages are meaningful indicators of academic achievement, and reduce the need for and use of credit recovery and content recovery programs. The task force shall make recommendations to the board for potential revisions in areas including, but not limited to, the use of term weighting in calculating final student grades, the method of awarding quality points on the basis of unique numeric final course averages when calculating student grade point averages, and the use of a 100-point grading scale. The task force shall report its findings to the State Board of Education before February 1, 2027. The State Board of Education shall then adopt, and school districts shall implement, any updates to the Uniform Grading Policy by no later than the 2028-2029 School Year.

 

SECTION 2.  This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

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